Diagnostic efficacy of hand-held digital refractometer for determining total serum protein in indigenous sheep of Pakistan.

The study was designed to ascertain the diagnostic efficacy of hand-held digital refractometer in determining total protein (TP). The Sipli sheep (n = 128) were grouped as per gender (females = 99, males = 29) and age (G1 = up till 1 year, n = 35; G2 = from 1 to 2 years, n = 63; G3 = above 2 years, n = 30). The results regarding the overall mean (±SE) values for the TPs attained through serum chemistry analyzer (TP1) and hand-held digital refractometer (TP2) were non-significantly (P≥0.05) different (59.2±1.6g/L and 59.8±0.5g/L, respectively). However, the reference intervals (RIs) were quite different for the two TPs being 45.1-95.7g/L and 57.0-67.0g/L for TP1 and TP2, respectively. Similar results were seen for gender-wise and group-wise results. On the contrary, the results regarding correlation coefficient and logilinear regression showed a negative correlation between the two TPs (r = -0.0244) with an adjusted r-square of 0.059 (5.9% probability). Furthermore, the three tests implied to assess the level of agreement between the two methods (Cronbach alpha, Intraclass correlation coefficient, and Bland & Altman test) revealed least agreement between the two methods. In a nutshell, the results of TP through digital refractometer were not in concordance with those attained through serum chemistry analyzer. However, it can cautiously be used if these results are compared with relevant corrected RIs.

Assessing total erythrocyte count as a potential attribute for estimating hemoglobin in Cholistani cattle.

The main objective of the study was to confirm whether a specific and constant interrelationship exists between total erythrocyte count (TEC) and hemoglobin (Hb) concentration in Cholistani cattle blood and to navigate the potential of TEC for estimating Hb level in Cholistani cattle (n = 264) grouped as per gender (males, n = 122; females, n = 142) and age (young, n = 140; adults, n = 124). The TEC and Hb (HbD) estimation was carried out through veterinary hematology analyzer. The Hb was also calculated as TEC × 3 and was termed as HbC. Linear regression was implied, and accordingly, scatterplots were drawn between TEC, HbD, HbC, and corrected Hb (CHB). The regression prediction equation hence attained was used to deduce corrected hemoglobin (CHb). A significant (P ≤ 0.05) difference was noticed between HbD and HbC. A non-significant (P ≥ 0.05) difference was noticed, however, between HbD and CHb. Tests of level of agreement indicated a higher Cronbach's alpha and intraclass correlation coefficient (0.682 for average measures) for HbD and CHb as compared to that for HbD and HbC (0.559 for average measures). A convention of Hb concentration as three times of TEC (× 3) is not valid for Cholistani cattle. A different pen-side hematological formula, i.e., Hb (g/dL) = 0.66(TEC) + 6.1, however, provides a better estimate of Hb from the TEC in cattle blood. Using hemocytometry for TEC in the field, all the stakeholders associated with veterinary research, academics, and practice may benefit from this formula in resource-poor countries.